


Pet Names

by reillyblack



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Bi Dean, Bottom Dean, Dean Smith - Freeform, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, It's a Terrible Life verse, M/M, SO, Top Castiel, also a little cracky, also a lot of awkward groping, also my dean smith is some cross between the actual dean smith, and canon dean winchester, because I fucking LOVE that trope, gay priuses too beware, hopefully humorous, like a lot, this is a pretend relationship trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-10 22:48:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4410860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reillyblack/pseuds/reillyblack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You want me to… pretend to be your boyfriend.”</p><p>“Yeah.” Dean shrugged, going for intentionally nonchalant.</p><p>“Dean, you’re not gay. I know that. Your ex-girlfriend sure as hell knows that. This is an idiotic idea,” Cas argued immediately.</p><p>“Wouldn’t it be great if she thought she, like, turned me gay though? That two-timing asshole.” Dean smiled just at the thought.</p><p>“That’s stupid,” Cas reiterated patiently, as though Dean was a child. “You can’t ‘turn gay’ anymore than I can ‘turn straight’. No, that’s stupid and insulting.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sleepingspero9](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepingspero9/gifts).



Dean long wondered how the hell he and Cas stayed friends. Outside of the office, Dean loved things like guns, country music, and plaid. Cas was more of the quiet literary type, spending most nights reading... Dean didn't even know what, but they usually sported distinctly hipster covers. Dean routinely found books on subjects like bee keeping left open on the couch. Dean liked going out on the weekends for drinking or hooking up with girls (and preferably both). Cas, on the other hand, played chess with his supremely geeky friends or practiced martial arts until he hit the hay at a reasonable hour, even on goddamn _Saturdays --_ and Dean knew that for certain because Cas shared his apartment; he could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen the light on under his door after eleven at night.

Somehow despite all this, Cas was his best friend. It didn’t matter that their hang-out activities were decidedly opposite, there was no one else Dean would rather sit down to a meal with or call at three in the morning to ask if the girl who kept trying to drag him into the bathroom was too drunk to go along with (which, Cas told him, if he even had to ask that question he already knew the answer).

Obviously Cas was the best option for Dean's plan, though he did feel a little bad for the guy when he looked at him like that, all wide-eyed and frozen in surprise. Dean knew better than anyone that Cas was a creature of regimented habit, and Dean threw him for a pretty big loop without any warning.

“You want me to… pretend to be your boyfriend.”

“Yeah.” Dean shrugged, going for intentionally nonchalant.

“Dean, _you’re not gay_. _I_ know that. Your _ex-girlfriend_ sure as hell knows that. This is an idiotic idea,” Cas argued immediately.

“Wouldn’t it be great if she thought she, like, turned me gay though? That two-timing asshole,” Dean smiled just at the thought.

“That’s stupid,” Cas reiterated patiently, as though Dean was a child. “You can’t ‘turn gay’ anymore than I can ‘turn straight’. No, that’s stupid _and_ insulting.”

“Ok, ok. I’m sorry. I’m stupid, you’re right. But, forget the gay thing for a moment,” at which Cas snorted indignantly and Dean held his hands up in surrender before hurrying with his next point, “and put yourself in my position. I can’t ask anyone else! You’re it. Any of my straight girl friends might get the wrong idea and try to make it more than it is, and you know better than anyone that I’m in no position to even _attempt_ a relationship right now. Charlie would be my only other safe bet, but Bela already knows she’s as gay as the night is long. She wouldn’t buy it.”

“What, and she’ll buy that you’ve suddenly developed a taste for men?” Cas snorted again, rolling his eyes sky high as he stabbed pasta from his plate.

“Ok, this is… this is top secret, but I think she actually would.”

Cas put his fork down, squinting at Dean.

“Why?”

“Just…” Dean swallowed, his palms suddenly sweaty. “Uh, it’s not so far-fetched. Something that happened when we were together might have given her the idea that I could be interested in men too.”

“ _What_ happened when you were together?” Cas demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and squinting at Dean like he wanted to shake the answer out of him.

“Just trust me. This will work,” Dean insisted, fighting off the heat in his face at Cas's irritated suspicion. “Besides, Bela was always jealous of you for some reason. She was uncomfortable with us sharing an apartment because she thought you might like me. And you hated her! You practically begged me to break up with her. Think how sweet it’ll be to see her rage over us hooking up.”

Cas rolled his eyes again, mumbling something Dean didn’t catch before eating the rest of his dinner in complete silence. It wasn’t until he tucked his dish in the dishwasher that he finally spoke again.

“For how long?”

Dean twisted in his seat with a grin on his face.

“It would just be for a few work-related events: the holiday party this weekend, dinner at my boss’s next week, um, and if you could come to my work to pick me up for lunch a few times too, that would be awesome.”

“For how long, Dean,” Cas grit out, glaring at him out of the corner of his eye as he grabbed Dean’s plate and washed that too.

“Um, a month? Maybe two?” Dean said, flinching when Cas rounded on him, gaping.

“ _Two months?_ This is absolutely ridiculous. Just… send her a virus in her email or something. This elaborate plot is way too much work. She’s not worth it.”

“Cas,” Dean said softly, "With my boss. On my desk. This is about my dignity as a man.”

Cas froze, myriad emotions flitting over his face. Dean knew Cas was a huge softie, and if Dean just pushed the right buttons he could get him to do almost anything for him. Of course, Dean didn’t take advantage of that knowledge very often.

“A month, no more. And preferably less,” Cas hissed, gliding past him to the bathroom to start his end of the night routine. As soon as the bathroom door shut, Dean let out a (quiet) whoop of celebration.

Bela was a jealous and suspicious girlfriend when they were together, so even if she was totally over him now he knew this would sting. Given how spectacularly shitty Bela had made him feel over the past two weeks, Dean couldn’t wait to get started.

 

* * *

  

Monday greeted Dean with the sight of Bela’s hands on Michael’s front jacket – just a light touch, appropriately flirty to anyone watching who hadn’t walked in on the two of them horizontal on Dean’s desk. Dean accidentally met Bela’s eyes and she pulled her hand away from Michael as though it had suddenly caught fire.

“Dean,” Michael said to him as he passed by the two of them, though Dean was now staring at his feet. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Of course,” Dean plastered a smile on his face. He followed Michael into his office while Bela turned and headed down the hallway and, most importantly, away from them.

As soon as the door clicked shut Michael turned to him and smiled the kind of smile that undoubtedly landed him his position as supervisor of their division.

“I just wanted to double check that the… situation we found ourselves in last Friday wasn’t still troubling you.”

Dean swallowed.

“No, no troubling. I’m fine. Really.”

“I know it was awkward for you, and I apologize again for… well, the location. It was thoughtless of me. Obviously, I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“At least my desk is sturdy, right? That’s company dollars at work right there.” Dean eyed the door, willing it to burst open. “Honestly, I’m not going to tell anyone. You’re both adults, and technically, as you said, you don’t supervise Bela so… knock yourself out. But maybe… not on my desk next time because, hey, it’s not _that_ sturdy.”

At which Michael actually laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.

“I can’t make any promises.”

Dean headed for the door before he could betray his disgust.

“Well, I’ve got work to do if that’s all…” he added by way of excusing himself.

“Yes. Of course.”

Dean hurried down the hallway clutching his stomach and thinking about hurling his protein shake all over Bela’s expensive shoes. The thought ironically settled his stomach enough for him to make it to his office.

He got lost in numbers and marketing strategy for several hours until his phone buzzed.

“So, how do I do this?” Cas's low, gravelly voice asked him over the phone.

“Hey, man. What are you talking about?” Dean leaned back in his excessively comfortable chair, massaging his temples with one hand.

“Your stupid plan.” Cas sounded irritated. “I’m outside your building. I’ve never been here before. The point is for her to see me taking you out to lunch, right? How do I make that happen?”

“Oh. Oh! Right.” Dean grinned, his day suddenly infinitely better. “Yeah, come up to the tenth floor. I’m in office 1002, it’s off the elevator and to the left. Everything’s glass up here, so we can just walk by her office and she’ll see us.”

“This is so juvenile,” Cas grumbled before hanging up on him.

Not five minutes later Cas walked straight past his office looking overwhelmed. Dean had to chase him down the hall and pull him back into the correct office.

“Nice,” Cas commented, looking around. “I see how you can afford to pay 2/3 the rent.”

“You cover groceries.”

“Well, I’m a better cook than you. If I let you buy groceries we’d be eating a truly disgusting number of protein shakes every week,” Cas muttered, now examining the shelf by his desk. “This is a nice picture of you and Sam.”

“That’s from when I visited Sammy in Stanford last year.”

“Are you ready to go?” Cas asked.

“Got my wallet.” Dean showed it to him.

“Well… let’s get this over with.” Cas frowned and stalked from the room.

“Wait! Cas. Wait.” Dean grabbed his hand. Cas looked down at it before rolling his eyes.

“Oh, Christ,” he growled at the ceiling. “You want to hold hands?”

“We’re a couple, remember?” Dean grinned. “Try looking happier about it.”

“Fine. I’ll just think about that time you got jalapeno in your eyes when helping prepare dinner.” Cas faced him, smiling. “Ah, yes. Worked like a charm.”

Dean steered him down the hallway and past Bela’s office, trying his goddamn best not to look and see if she saw them. He could feel her eyes on the back of his neck after they passed her office. Fuck yes.

“Where are we going?” Cas asked without looking at him.

“Your call. I know you’re doing me a big favor with this, so the least I can do is make it as pleasant as possible for you,” Dean offered, letting go of Cas's hand as they stepped onto the elevator.

“You’re right. I am doing you a big favor.” Cas nodded. “In that case, we’re going to that bakery I love.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Dean shouted at Cas for backup when suddenly the screen went black and white in defeat. Dean ripped off his headset and dropped it to the floor a little too hard.

“What happened to you?” Dean whined.

“I was trying to heal!” Cas defended himself.

“Damn it.”

“Dean,” Cas shut his laptop. “Next time you should wait for me before rushing into things.”

“You want a beer?”

“Ew.”

“Oh, right. Uh, tea?”

“Earl Grey, please.”

Dean settled next to Cas on the couch and waited for the hot water to boil.

“You going out tonight?” Cas wondered while idly playing with the edge of his laptop.

“I’m pretty beat. Up for a movie?”

“What kind?” Cas seemed to perk up.

 

“I’m thinking older sci fi. Like, Dune.”

“Excellent,” Cas agreed with an enthusiasm Dean knew he couldn’t fake. “I’ll run out and rent it.”

“Ok, but not the one from the eighties. The miniseries one.”

“The one with Alec Newman.”

“Right.

“He’s quite attractive.”

Dean glanced at Cas.

“He looks like you.”

“Well, I’ve been told I’m quite attractive,” Cas cast him a smug look before getting up to the sound of the water boiling.

“Speaking of your hotness…” Dean twisted on the couch to give Cas his best sweet look. “The holiday party’s this weekend and I’d love for you to be my date.”

Cas paused in swirling a tea bag in his cup of water. He added sugar to the drink and stirred it with a spoon.

“What does ‘holiday’ party mean? Do I have to dress like Santa?”

“Uh, no. I’m trying to make Bela jealous, not… whatever the opposite of that would be. So you’ll go?”

“I already agreed to do it,” Cas reminded him grudgingly. He sat back down next to Dean. “So, I need to look my best.”

“Yeah, we both do.”

“You don’t really have bad looking days, Dean,” Cas said in his earnest, offhanded way that Dean found just so awkward. “I would know. I live with you.”

“Uh,” Dean took another swig of beer. Cas noticed how he looked? On a daily basis? The thought was… strange. Maybe not. Maybe that was totally normal and Dean was just being weird because he knew Cas was gay. That was probably it. “Thanks.”

 

* * *

 

Cas dropped by for lunch at work one more time before the holiday party. He brought two sandwiches and they ate in Dean’s office because Dean knew Bela had to walk by there to get to the elevator. It was a normal lunch, and both of them had forgotten why Cas was there in the first place until the sound of Bela's laugh in the hallway jolted Dean into action.

“Oh shit, I hear her. Quick, give me your hand,” Dean insisted as the sound of Bela’s laughter pealed through his open door and reminded him.

“What? Why?” Cas barely got out before Dean laced their fingers together and pulled their interlaced digits to his mouth for a chaste kiss. When he opened his eyes it was impossible to miss the look of pure fury on Bela’s face as she tore her gaze away from them and back to her office mate, Kevin.

“Nice,” Dean whispered, a grin spreading over his face. “That was satisfying.”

“Dean –” Dean noticed his poor friend was significantly redder and more uncomfortable than Dean had ever seen him. “Warn me before you do that again!” Cas demanded.

“Cas, ‘that’ is the whole point of this,” Dean waved between them to indicate the “this”.

“I’m just not used to you… doing _that_.”

“Jeez, sorry.”

“How far are you going to take this? No more surprises.” Cas leaned over Dean’s desk to fix him with an unnerving stare.

“So, at the holiday party,” Dean started slowly, somewhat amused by how a little kiss on the knuckles had affected Cas to such a degree, “I think we should kiss. A real kiss. This is a formal warning.”

Dean didn't realize Cas could go redder.

“You know, I’m actually better at this gay thing than you are. That’s kind of embarrassing for you,” Dean teased.

Cas was likely trying to murder him with his eyes. “This isn’t the same and you know it.” Dean couldn’t help but laugh at that. “You owe me big,” Cas pointed at him while his skin slowly returned to a more normal shade.

“Is kissing going to be a problem?”

“No. No problem. I just hope you can handle me.” Cas shot back.

“Oh?” Dean cocked his head to the side. “What does that mean?”

“It means you’re playing with fire, Winchester.”

“Good.” Dean almost surprised himself with his surge of ferocity. “The more heat, the more miserable she’ll be.”

 

* * *

 

Dean imagined Cas got a lot of play at formal events because he could definitely bring his game. He looked awesome, and Dean looked awesome too because he was on a new exercise kick that toned his arms beautifully.

Too bad neither of them was on the market for this event. In fact, the point was for them to be very obviously _not_ on the market.

“Your company goes over the top quite frequently, don’t they?” Cas commented as his eyes roved over the elaborate decorations, food, and live band off to the side of the event hall on the first floor of their building.

“Sandover’s all about reputation, Cas. Plus, it’s a networking event. Some of our clients are here.”

“Is Bela here at least?”

“Silver dress, ten o’clock. No, that’s two o’clock, Cas, other way.”

“Oh. She looks good.”

“You’re gay.”

“What, I can’t say a woman looks good? I don’t want to nail everything I find aesthetically pleasing.”

“Alright, alright.”

“Is that Michael with her?”

“Yes.”

“Now _he_ I would nail.”

Dean reeled, grimacing.

“Please stop talking. You’re making this worse.”

“Of course, you’re a much better catch,” Cas patted him affectionately and wound their arms together in an intimate way. “And she’s a fool for throwing you away. Is that more helpful? How about this?” Cas pressed closer, and Dean suddenly knew how Cas felt in his office when he’d kissed his knuckles: overwhelmed and weirded out beyond measure because friends didn’t, and never should, act like this.

Dean pushed those feelings down because Cas was playing a role for him and it wasn’t his fault that Dean was disturbed by how well he was (finally) doing it.

Jo walked by, looking between them and their intimate position with evident confusion.

“Dean! And… Cas?”

“Hey Jo. You know Cas. He’s my date tonight.”

“Date as in… friend date?”

“No, romantic date,” Dean clarified. If he was going to make this believable, he would have to commit with his friends too.

“Oh. That’s great, Dean. So happy for you both,” Jo nodded, less confused. “Weren’t you roommates when you were dating Bela?”

“Shhhh.” Dean looked around, legitimately worried. “Michael’s dating her now and I really don’t want him to know we dated before. It would be… bad. Catastrophic, really.”

“Ok, but you two…”

“Yes, we lived together,” Cas supplied, running a hand over Dean’s bicep and giving him involuntary shivers. “I guess our feelings just grew over time. Slow love.”

“That’s sweet,” Jo seemed at a loss for words for a moment. “Ok, when I met you at the company picnic I did sort of suspect you two were into each other. And, I mean, you do drive a prius.”

“You did?” Dean blurted in honest surprise. “And what does my car have to do with this?”

“Yeah, you bicker like an old married couple. Sometimes that’s a friendship thing, but most of the time it means something else. I wasn’t sure.”

“Even then he had feelings for me.” Cas patted the arm he was holding and did that bicep stroke thing again that gave Dean uncomfortable shivers. “My honeypie didn’t tell me until a week ago. I can’t say it surprised me either, Jo.”

Jo’s eyes went wide at “honeypie”, though she made a valiant attempt to disguise it.

“Well, sugarplum, would you like to get something to drink? We’ll be back, Jo.”

“Ok. I’m going to try to find more people from our floor.”

Dean smiled pleasantly until he turned away from her.

“Honeypie?” he growled, trying to keep the façade on his face.

“ _Sugarplum?_ ” Cas countered.

“You are having way too much fun with this now. I had to take you down a notch.”

“I think you did the opposite, cheesecake.”

“Cas, no, that’s not a pet name, that’s just a pastry.”

“Oh. Crumbcake?”

“Also just a pastry.”

“What about cuddle muffin?”

“What _the hell_ is that?”

“I think I heard it somewhere. Sometime.”

“Just stick to what you know, Cas. Don’t go out on a limb.”

“Can’t make any more promises, Dean. I’m still in the middle of the last favor I did for you.”

  

* * *

 

Dean got more and more wasted as the night progressed. Cas didn’t drink except in times of extreme emotional stress, which, apparently, this was, so he was pretty wasted too. It was a good thing neither of them drove Dean’s prius to the party.

“Stop stroking my arm,” Dean hissed at Cas. “Feels weird.”

“We’re trying to make this believable,” Cas replied. “I need to touch you somehow. Would you rather I touch you elsewhere?”

“Oh, yes, because you’re so concerned with believable, _dumpling_.” Dean chose to ignore the obvious innuendo there.

Cas snorted into his shoulder, overtaken with laughter.

“You were so red after I called you that.”

“I thought you were here to make this better, not worse,” Dean moaned.

“Hey. I’m doing this for free,” Cas whispered in his ear. A little too close to his ear, honestly. “For you. So I’m going to have a little fun with it.”

“You’ve already gotten three free meals out of it!” Dean argued immediately.

“I have another price for you to pay.” Cas shook his head solemnly. “I’ve thought long and hard about it.”

“What?” Dean swallowed, trying to read Cas's fake sober expression. Cas leaned in close, his mouth practically touching Dean’s ear.

“I want to know what you did while you were dating Bela for her to believe this could be real.”

Dean flushed, Cas's lips still too close to his ear.

Cas grinned at him in a way he only did when he was decently inebriated. Then he said something in one of the many foreign languages that Dean didn’t know he knew. No matter the language, Dean could recognize a swear word when he heard it.

“She’s watching us,” Cas said, and he was a horrible actor when he was drunk; he actually went white with what Dean was guessing was nerves.

“Kiss me,” Dean said quickly. “Don’t let her know you see her, just kiss me.”

Cas went even whiter.

“I don’t know if I can.” He shook his head minutely.

“Oh come on, Cas! Remember you said I wouldn’t be able to handle you? What happened to that confidence? Come on! Do it for me, Cas.”

Cas still looked hesitant, though, so Dean decided to take the reigns. He acted fast so drunk Cas couldn’t give them away as frauds – he pulled Cas closer, and in one swift movement placed the most delicate, romantic kiss he could manage on Cas's immobile lips.

Cas actually groaned when Dean leaned back. Dean was a little offended – he could at least _pretend_ to like the way Dean kissed him instead of groaning in disgust like that.

“Try again.” Cas wet his lips, his eyes still closed.

“You ready for me this time?” Dean asked, all business. He was an adult and he could kiss his best guy friend for the sake of making his ex-girlfriend jealous, damn it. No big deal, really.

Cas nodded, eyes still closed, so Dean went back in. This time Cas shocked the hell out of him when he surged forward, wrapping his arms around Dean’s neck and pressing up on his tip toes to get as close to Dean as possible. Dean gasped in surprise, but then he was busy just trying to keep up with Cas's aggressive mouth and roving tongue. That tongue was in Dean’s mouth now, Cas’s hands commanding Dean’s lips where he wanted them. Dean closed his eyes too and silently thanked Cas for the effort.

Cas was a good friend. The best, really.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean was grateful he didn’t have to work the next day, partly because his own head throbbed, but mostly because Cas was pretty sick. The guy didn’t have the kind of tolerance Dean had built up, and Dean, forgetting that, let him have one too many glasses of champagne. Or five too many.

Cas laid out on the couch with a bottle of aspirin and some water while Dean cooked him grilled cheese. He made himself a protein shake while he was waiting for the sandwich to grill. Cas flipped through mediocre channels until he landed on “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

“They play that every Christmas,” Dean noted absently.

“I’ve never seen it.”

“There’s this angel named Clarence who’s alright. Hey, maybe I should call you Clarence. People might not get the reference, though. What about angel? Or angel cakes.”

Cas groaned loudly.

“Please stop. We’re off duty. And the pet names are really getting out of hand.”

“You started it, angel cakes.” Dean reminded him cheerfully.

Dean felt rather than saw the glare Cas shot him from the couch, which, given his state of misery, Dean could tell was pretty lethal.

“How many more of these outings do I have left to attend?” Cas wondered.

“Well, there’s the dinner at Michael’s house next week. Bela will be there, obviously.” Dean thought for a moment. “It wouldn’t do if you just stopped coming for lunch, but we can knock that down to once a week now that we’ve established a pattern. I didn’t get to see Bela’s face last night, which kind of spoiled the whole point of the kiss. That sucked.”

Cas made a sound Dean couldn’t really identify.

“I kissed you.”

“I kissed you first. It’s cool. And thanks, by the way, you really did bring the heat like you promised. Though I think it was a little over the top for a public work gathering,” Dean mused as an afterthought.

Cas made another sound, and this time Dean turned around to get a read on his roommate. Cas had his face buried in a pillow, which explained why he sounded so muffled.

“You ok?” Dean wondered.

“No.” Dean could barely make out the words. “Never let me get that drunk again.”

“It’s fine. You did what I asked you to. We’re fine, Cas. I know it’s a little weird because we’re friends, and you’re my roommate, but just pretend it was, I don’t know, Johnny Depp.”

“Johnny Depp?” Cas lifted his face from the pillow.

“What? He’s cute. Objectively speaking.”

Cas stared at him for another moment before dropping his face back into the pillow.

“Then you picture him.” He thought he heard Cas say.

 

* * *

 

 

Cas came by work three days later. Dean was ahead so the holiday crunch didn’t bother him too much, but the atmosphere of stress from everyone else not ahead was enough to stress him out.

Cas stood at his door for an awkward minute before letting himself in.

“I’m here for another free lunch, as promised.”

“Thank god,” Dean breathed, hopping off his Cruncher (a bar that attached to the closet door so Dean could do pull-ups in the office). “I need a break from this place. Badly.”

“You’re sweaty,” Cas pointed out.

“I’ve been working out.” Dean looked down at himself. Maybe he had some pitstains in his designer shirt. Gross.

“You want to go out like that?”

“I’m good.” Dean started to unbutton his shirt and checked in his desk, second drawer, to find his change of clothes. “So where do you want to go?”

“You can pick this time since you’ve had a long day,” Cas replied. Dean smiled at him, but Cas wasn’t looking at him; he was fascinated by the same picture of him and Sam he commented on before. It wasn’t _that_ great of a picture.

“Ooh, how about Whole Foods? They’ve got an excellent deli. And they’re close, just a few blocks away.” Dean whipped his shirt off and started to button up his new one.

“Cas, come here.”

Cas finally looked up from the desk, eyes glancing over Dean hesitantly. He came though, stopping with just a few feet between them. Dean crossed those feet.

He kissed Cas slowly, superficially – no tongues this time. Then he leaned back and patted Cas's shoulder.

“That’s how you kiss someone in public, ok? I don’t want to get thrown out of the deli.”

“Why would we be kissing in the deli?” Cas watched him, eyes hooded.

Dean paused.

“I guess we wouldn’t. Forget I did that.”

“No.” Cas seemed to recover. “Patrick Swayze did.”

“Patrick Swayze? Johnny Depp’s way better.”

“Now it’s Han Solo.” Cas closed his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting up.

“Ok, Han Solo I can get behind.”

“So could I.” Cas smirked.

  

* * *

 

  

Dean’s big chance to rub he and Cas in Bela’s face was the dinner party. He could _not wait_ for Michael’s dinner party. The grand climax of his plan would take place: Bela walking in on him and Cas doing… something. He wasn’t sure yet. Definitely not sex, as he could not ask his best friend for a favor like that, but something brain-scarring and horrifying. Well, it would end up as whatever Cas was cool with because he had a feeling he’d already asked too much of him.

“So what do you think of a carefully timed, heavy make-out session at Michael’s place?”

Cas was still in his pajamas, a cup of steaming tea in his hand. He squinted at Dean and Dean couldn’t help but notice how wild his bedhead looked today.

“It’s too early to talk about this,” Cas finally concluded after a good ten seconds of pure squinting.

“The dinner’s tomorrow. We have to talk about it. You’re on a deadline tonight and I’m going to a spinning class tomorrow morning.”

Cas took a long, deep sip from his mug. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, through his hair, and then exhaled loudly before bringing his blue eyes up in a slightly more awake stare.

“Define ‘heavy’.”

“I’m thinking… and tell me if this is too poetic… you and I in Michael’s luxurious home office, on his desk. I don’t care who’s top and who’s bottom. I’ll give Kevin some bogus reason for bringing Bela in.”

Cas blinked at him, his face a neutral mask.

“Just to be clear: you’re not propositioning me right now, right?”

“No! No way. Clothes stay on. But maybe a bit more of that holiday party spirit.” Dean winked.

Cas squinted at him again, tilted his head, and repeated his noisy exhale.

“Do you have even the faintest idea how two men have sex?”

Dean gaped at him wordlessly for a few minutes before admitting earnestly, “No, not really. No.”

“We’re going to have to practice,” Cas sighed.

“H-having sex?” Dean’s face twisted in confusion.

“No! Making out. You clearly don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I’ve made out with plenty of people. Plenty.” Dean countered.

“And how many people with dicks?” Cas raised his eyebrows.

“The mechanics are the same,” Dean sputtered.

“They are _not_.”

“Come on. How different can it really be?”

“Dean.” Cas rose up on his knees so he towered over the back of the couch and spread his hands in a gesture dripping with exasperation. “They are different planets. I would know – I’ve made out with dicks and dickless and more, and you, to the best of my knowledge, have not.”

Dean set his kale smoothie down on the tabletop.

“Alright. Enlighten me.”

“What, right now?” Cas asked, suddenly alarmed.

“We don’t have any other time to do this, so yes, right now.” Dean circled the couch and sat down next to Cas.

Cas looked at him owlishly and then settled back on his heels facing Dean on the couch. He took another generous sip of his tea before continuing.

“First off: breasts. I’m guessing that’s one of the first places your hands navigate to.”

“Naturally,” Dean agreed, his complete focus directed on Cas, who worked himself into a remarkably professor-like attitude for someone with hair sticking out in more directions than Dean could count.

“Well, I have nipples, but not breasts, necessarily. While nipple play can be fun, it’s probably not going to have the same level of shock value you’re going for. The best sexual-but-not-too sexual asset I can think of for that is, well, our asses.”

Dean’s eyes may or may not have drifted lower for a millisecond.

“If you’re not going for a full on dick touch, and I draw a hard line at dick touching, you’re going to want to go for the ass grab.”

“So…”

“So, one or both of us is grabbing ass,” Cas explained in a calm tone.

Dean for his part was doing his darndest not to break out in an all out rash from the level of weird in this conversation. He had to grab Cas's ass. His _ass_. Either that, or Cas grabbed _his_ – unless he wanted to call off his plan, which, no thank you, not after all this time and effort.

“Second off: Dean Winchester, _I have a dick_.”

Dean didn’t manage to keep his cool through that one.

“Yes.” Dean could feel his cheeks redden. “I’m aware.”

“And you have a dick, too. If we’re doing ‘heavy make-out’, and you’re using words like ‘top’ and ‘bottom’, I can _guarantee_ you there’s going to be touching. And friction. And this is going to get far more awkward than just kissing in front of your coworkers. And me? Well, I can imagine Han Solo. You, on the other hand, might have a difficult time pretending I’m Megan Fox.”

“Right.” Dean attempted to swallow but found he didn’t have enough spit for it anymore. “And you draw a hard line at… dick touching… so this isn’t going to work, is it?”

Cas surveyed him for a few heart-wrenching seconds.

“I meant no dick grabbing. As in, I don’t want an intentional hand-job from my best friend in the name of making some girl jealous. Though it may be up for debate at the moment, I assure you I do have some pride.”

“Right… and I wouldn’t… anyway…” Dean stuttered.

“I just wanted to prepare you for what this is really going to entail.” Cas shrugged. “As long as you understand that, I can do this one last thing for you. But after this, nothing else, ok? I’m done.” Cas deflated, staring into his cup blankly.

“That’s fair.” Dean agreed hastily. “As long as I get one good, long look at Bela’s face, we don’t have to do anything else after this. The end.”

Cas sat there oddly silent for another moment. Dean cleared his throat.

“So, you don’t actually want to practice, do you?”

Cas’s eyebrows shot up.

“You think we need to?”

“No, no.” Dean laughed, though it was more of a nervous huff of breath. “I think I got the picture. In theory.”


	4. Chapter 4

Michael’s house intimidated Dean even more than Michael himself, with its too-dark walls and immaculately clean everything. Michael might as well be a robot from what warmth and personality Dean could see in the apartment. Well, a robot with several editions of Barny’s home decorating installed.

About fifteen of his coworkers and their various levels of significant others were invited to the party. By Dean’s calculations, Michael actually considered him one of the elite under his supervision. So Dean mingled politely for about a half an hour, chomping on appetizers and laughing mindlessly at jokes he found half as funny as he pretended.

Cas was an absolute delight and a hit with his coworkers. Jo glued herself to his side and took it upon herself to introduce him to all of Dean’s coworkers he didn’t already know. Dean got sidetracked talking soccer with Benny while she worked her magic.

Bela acted like the similar side of a magnet to Dean; wherever he wandered, she found a way to place herself as far away and opposite to him the space allowed.

Dean figured it was time to get the party really started.

Dean sidled up next to Cas and leaned in to his ear. “Can I borrow you for a moment?”

Cas stiffened at the sound of Dean’s voice. He excused himself and followed Dean through the room of people and down a side hall.

A bathroom and a bedroom later, Dean found Michael’s study. He’d been there once before so he already knew where to look.

“I want something like this in a few years,” Dean marveled. “Well, maybe for you to work in. This is kind of old-fashioned for my taste. Mine would be more modern.”

“I won’t be living with you in a few years.” Cas snorted. Dean rounded on him, unexpectedly pained by Cas's derision.

“Why not?”

“Why not? You’ll be married with kids by the time you have a house like this. You’re not going to need or want a roommate.” Cas shrugged, looking around the room slowly. Cas sounded wistful, but Dean wasn’t sure why. Dean looked around with him. The study was all dark blues and greys, with hints of rich wood colors.

Cas hopped up on the front of Michael’s desk unceremoniously, an unexpectedly childish action for a man in formal clothes. Dean marveled again at how well Cas cleaned up. His clear blue eyes looked electric in the dim lighting of the study.

“Whoever I marry’s going to have to like you.” Dean insisted, walking over to stand in front of him.

Cas looked at him in a way Dean didn’t know how to read; he often looked at him like that when Dean was doing something stupid, like stubbing his toe on his home weights.

Cas leaned forward, grabbed Dean by the tie, and tugged him closer. Then he rested his hands gently on Dean’s shoulders, skimming up along Dean’s neck to tangle in his hair. Holding his eyes, Cas leaned in and brought their mouths together.

Ok, so Cas was better at the gay stuff than Dean previously thought.

Cas explored his mouth, tongue curling unabashedly along his own, and his hands drifted down along Dean’s body. Dean realized that Cas was already going for the ass grab they’d talked about.

“Wait wait wait.” Dean broke away from Cas's mouth. He could hear his heart in his ears. “I didn’t text Kevin yet.”

“What are you going to say?” Cas asked, his voice shaky.

“To tell Bela that Michael wants to see her in his study, and to be discreet about it.”

“Oh,” Cas breathed, lifting his hands awkwardly from Dean’s sides while Dean fished his phone out of his pocket.

The silence was almost painful as Dean typed out the message and hit send. He turned back to Cas feeling weirdly shy, unsure how to start back up now that they’d stopped.

Lucky for him, Cas pulled him in easily, connecting their lips as though they’d never left. He was rougher this time, dragging Dean up against him until Dean felt, with a jolt, that dick problem Cas had warned him about. Namely, he could feel Cas's and he was pretty sure Cas could feel his, which was growing more and more attentive with each passing second.

Dean gasped when Cas actually grabbed his ass, squeezing along his left cheek and anchoring there.

The feeling ignited something in Dean. Dean pushed Cas until his back hit the desk, and without even thinking about it, thrust his hips in a way that had Cas gasping in turn.

“D-dean,” Cas groaned, his eyes wide as Dean turned his attention to Cas's neck.

Cas had both hands on Dean’s ass now while he arched into Dean’s slow thrusts. Dean was pretty sure he’d already sucked a mean hickey onto Cas's neck, and that Cas wasn’t going to like that later, but he tasted surprisingly good – sort of oaky, and spicy.

“Dean, please…” Cas whispered, his mouth close to Dean’s ear. Dean loosened his tie to kiss lower. “Please…”

“Please what?” Dean mouthed against Cas's collar bone. Cas tilted his head back farther and moaned lightly, the vibrations in his throat tickling Dean’s forehead. Cas was rutting against him too now, tiny movements of his hips against Dean’s. One hand drifted higher to Dean’s waist to coordinate their rhythms.

“Oh my god.” When Dean looked up he had the best view he could have hoped for of Bela opening the door. She stood shocked for a full beat and Dean tried to memorize her face in all its horrified glory. Then, all too soon, her expression smoothed over into that poker face Dean always hated when they were dating.

Cas sat up, pushing Dean bodily out of the way as he slid off the desk and straightened his clothes.

Bela looked between them in silence. It was more awkward and uncomfortable for Dean himself than he’d realized it would be, and he suddenly wished she would leave already. Not to mention, Cas looked awful. He actually looked upset, which Dean wanted to ask him about but couldn’t while Bela just stood there looking at them.

“Dean.” Bela’s clear voice finally broke the heavy silence. “A word?”

“Why?” Dean crossed his arms.

“We need to talk.”

“Well, Bela, I’m with Cas now, so I don’t think we have anything to talk about.” Dean managed a half-hearted smirk. “Now, could you give us the room, please?”

Bela stared at them for another beat.

“Dean, just get your ass out here.”

Against his better judgment, Dean followed her into the hallway.

Bela rounded on him when the door to the study clicked closed. Dean hadn’t expected the fury in her eyes, but he could work with it.

“You’re not usually so dense, Dean. I’m surprised.”

“Not sure where you’re getting ‘dense’ from, but hey, if that’s the jealousy talking…”

“Don’t even try to pretend you didn’t set this all up. I know you better than that. Look, what happened with us was shit, so I’m going to help you out here.” Bela lowered her voice to a near whisper. “Cas is in love with you.”

Dean swayed on his feet. What a weird way of trying to strike back at him, given that they were already dating from her perspective.

“Come on, Bela. Don’t. We’re just… we’re taking it slow right now.”

“By the way, even if he wasn’t in love with you, using him to get back at me is catastrophically shitty thing to do to a friend.”

“Cas is not in love with me,” Dean scoffed. His insides squirmed painfully at even saying the words. “And I’m not in love with him. Which is no longer any of your business-“

“Ugh! Dean, you and I were _nothing_. We were just together because it was convenient and because the sex was hot.”

“Well-“

“I’m not finished!” Bela held her hand up, her eyes deadly. “ _Cas is in love with you_ , which makes what you’re doing to him much worse than what I did to you. You need to quit it for his sake, not mine.”

Dean could only glare.

“He followed you to another city, even though it was more expensive than he wanted, he cooks for you every night, he never brings anyone else home, even though I know you do – and I mean, have you seen the guy? He’s had offers.” Bela ticked off fingers with each reason. “But above all, if you could see the way he looks at you when he knows you can’t see, you’d stop making that face and believe me. It drove me absolutely mad when we were together, but I never said anything about it.”

Dean shook his head, crossing his arms and glaring some more. Somehow he couldn’t find words to argue with her.

“Even _you_ must have noticed how upset he was in there. So forget about me, go talk to him, and consider the fact that if you were comfortable enough to do what I just saw you doing, you may not be so straight after all – just denser than either of us realized. Also, never pull this fuckery again. I will eat you alive, Winchester.”

 

* * *

 

Bela stormed away and left Dean with a lingering feeling of nausea. Dean found he couldn’t make himself open the door right away, needing a moment to process and recover from Bela’s counterattack. The woman knew how to suck all the air out of his sails. Or maybe the wind hadn’t been there to begin with.

When he slipped back into the room, Cas hadn’t moved much from where Dean left him minutes before. He was sitting in the luxurious black leather chair behind Michael’s desk.

“Did you hear that?” Dean asked, his throat tight.

“Not really. I heard her say you and she were nothing, that she knew you set this up. Guess your plan sort of back fired.”

“Nothing else, though?” Dean asked.

Cas shrugged, his expression carefully blank. Dean could agree with Bela on at least one thing – Cas was upset. Why? Dean wasn’t sure yet.

“That’s good.” Dean breathed, then caught himself. “I mean, she was, you know, chewing me out. Brought up some personal stuff I’d rather you not hear.”

Cas nodded quietly. He rose from the chair and straightened his clothes. The atmosphere was heavy, unpleasant. Dean still felt sick.

“Well, seeing as you don’t need me anymore, I’m going to cut out early.” Cas wouldn’t look at him as he made his way to the door.

“Cas.” Dean caught Cas's arm and a spark of electricity ran up his fingers in remembrance of the way Cas pleaded against his neck minutes before. “Stay. I didn’t just invite you here for this.” Dean’s tongue felt thick in his mouth.

Cas still wouldn’t look at him. He looked at the place where Dean’s hand caught him instead of Dean’s eyes.

“These kind of parties aren’t really my style anyway. I’m going to bed early, so try not to make too much noise when you come in.”

Dean let him go. He didn’t know what else to do.

                                                                

* * *

  

Dean woke the next morning to a neatly written note on the counter that informed him Cas had gone early to visit his parents for Christmas and he’d be back next week.

Dean sank into the couch when he read it, his stomach sinking even lower. He immediately tried to call Cas, but his phone went straight to voicemail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I totally forgot that Jo was supposed to be Dean’s sister in this world. Whoops. 
> 
> Also: What do you readers think Dean did to make Bela believe he digs boys? I'm curious. Leave your guess for my authorial amusement!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You guys really want Dean to say Cas's name during sex. Lol, wish granted? 
> 
> Thanks for keeping up with this! If you want to skip the nsfw part, it's the last two sections of this chapter. Also, I love me some top!cas.

Cas was gone for almost a week when Dean finally invited Charlie over to keep him company. He was going stir crazy in the silence of the apartment and no number of spin classes or meals mostly composed of superfoods, could settle his uneasiness.

“What’s up?” Charlie grinned at him, her headset already on. She looked incredibly geeky. “Ready to kick some newb ass on StarCraft?”

“Uh. Actually I need your wise, gay advice.” Dean let her in. Charlie hesitantly removed her headset.

“Oh. Ok, that’s cool. You got anything to eat in here?”

Dean sat her down in his kitchen with a leftover skinned chicken breast and salad, which Charlie made some insulting faces over while eating, and recanted how horribly his revenge plan backfired.

“Then Bela told me she thought Cas was in love with me, and that using him to get back at her was a shitty thing to do. Cas did seem pretty upset. I’m still not sure why. He left the next morning to see his parents for Christmas and I haven’t been able to get ahold of him, which is… he’s definitely avoiding me.”

“Whoa.” Charlie set her fork down, her eyebrows up near her hairline. “Holy drama, Batman.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Dean grumbled.

“You know, usually people pretend to be straight rather than the other way around. This is actually… refreshing.” Charlie laughed. “Down to business. Do you think Cas is in love with you?” Charlie asked, folding her hands under her chin and above her half-eaten plate of chicken.

“Uh. I don’t know? I never thought so. We’re friends. Or at least we were.”

“Yeah, but friends can fall in love. That’s the best kind of relationship!” Charlie chimed. “Why did Bela think he was in love with you?”

“Since he can do his translating anywhere, Cas's plan after we graduated from Stanford was to move to a little hut in the middle of nowhere and, I don’t even remember, raise bees or something bizarre. When I told him I was looking for a roommate in Seattle, though, he decided to come with me here.”

“Ah, so he followed you here.”

“No, not ‘followed’, geez, that sounds so… that’s what Bela said too. It’s not like I twisted his arm over it.”

“Dean, it may be unfairly easy for you to convince Cas to do pretty much anything, but that guy is stubborn. He doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. Believe me.” Charlie sighed. “Did she say anything else?”

“Yeah, that he cooks for me and doesn’t bring guys home. I told him he could bring whomever he wanted here! He just doesn’t seem to have any interest in hook-ups. I don’t see how that has anything to do with me. That’s just Cas.” Dean cleared his throat, looking anywhere but at Charlie. “She also said he looks at me like he’s into me. I’ve never noticed that, though.”

“Really?” Charlie wrinkled her nose. She promptly smoothed her expression into something inscrutable a second later.

“What?” Dean asked.

“Just neutrally commenting on the situation,” Charlie said, a little too quickly.

“In which direction? Do you… do you actually agree with _Bela_?” Dean said, recoiling in horror. He was sure Charlie was going to back him up on this issue.

Charlie immediately raised her hands in surrender.

“Cas is my friend, too. As far as opinions go, I’m Switzerland, buddy. I don’t want to be blamed for leading you astray.”

“That’s so unhelpful.” Dean frowned.

“I will, as requested, act as your gay Yoda.” Dean smirked at that. “My young padawan, can you think of any other reason your devoted friend and loving roommate, who cooks for you every night, would up and leave and dodge your calls for a week after willingly making out with you? Especially after seeing how you cook when you’re on your own.” Charlie eyed the chicken distastefully.

“Maybe because I pushed him too far and he’s afraid it’s weird now so he doesn’t want to face me,” Dean pointed out instantly. He’d had a lot of time to contemplate this conundrum since Cas left. “But what if he is in love with me, and this whole thing… really screwed him up?”

“It’s a pickle.” Charlie nodded. “A real pickle.”

“Again, so helpful,” Dean grunted.

“Ok, Anakin, new thought: how do _you_ feel about Cas?” Charlie looked quite pleased with herself despite Dean's grumbling.

“What, so now I’m an evil douchebag who can’t act?”

“Anakin redeemed himself at the end and joined Obi-Won in the peaceful Jedi afterlife,” Charlie reminded him.

Dean made a face at her, but he focused on her question.

“He’s my friend,” he said after a moment.

“That was a long pause,” Charlie said with a slight smirk. “You liked making out with him, didn’t you?”

Dean knew he was turning red. How undignified.

“That’s ok Dean. A lot of straight people don’t know this, actually a lot of gay people don’t either, but it’s not just gay or straight. It’s a spectrum. I just happen to be on one end of it. You might not be, and that’s cool. You do you.”

“Ok,” Dean managed.

Charlie exhaled loudly.

“Is Cas in love you? Only Cas knows. I suggest you talk to him about it as soon as he gets back. You two are good enough friends that you can work through this if you communicate. Just know how _you_ feel and what you want either way going into that conversation. What if Cas is in love with you? Are you willing to give it a shot with him? Because whatever he feels, it seems like you do like him. If he’s not, can _you_ personally just go back to being friends?” Charlie asked, picking at her chicken again. “I do think you need to at least apologize to him for this whole thing. It clearly led to him feeling upset enough to avoid you. Sure, he went along with it, but Cas goes along with a lot of things for your sake rather than his.”

“Hey,” Dean said softly, trying to sound offended.

“It’s not so far-fetched that someone could be in love with you. I know you don’t want to believe that, but it might be the reality here,” Charlie said much more gently.

Dean couldn’t say anything in reply.

“You’re welcome. Gay Yoda duties fulfilled.” Charlie grinned. “Now let’s beat some newb ass.”

  

* * *

 

 

Dean only took three days off for Christmas, and they were action-packed. Ellen and Bobby always went way overboard when he came to visit, filling every second with activities and delicious food.

“So,” Dean asked over dinner the night before he left on his plane back to Washington, “how would you react if I, hypothetically of course, brought a guy back for next Christmas?”

Ellen swallowed her food slowly. Bobby glanced at her and then back at Dean.

“What’s this hypothetical guy’s name?” Bobby grunted.

“Cas?” Dean said it like a question. His hands were actually shaking over this and he'd pitched marketing campaigns to big name CEOs before.

“Your roommate?” Ellen asked.

“I told you,” Bobby said quietly.

“Damn it, Dean.” Ellen rolled her eyes. “Now I owe your father ten bucks.”

Dean stared at her.

 _“_ I mean _… Of course_ , I’m happy for you.” Ellen gave him a tight smile. “But I’m still out ten bucks.”

“How did you know?” Dean asked.

“You drive a prius.” Bobby shrugged.

“It’s fuel and space efficient for the big city!” Dean practically shrieked.

 

* * *

 

 

_Hey, I’ll be back tomorrow._

It was the first text Dean had gotten from Cas in two weeks. Dean grinned at his phone for a solid minute before texting back.

_Forget your phone charger?_

_I’m avoiding you, assbutt._

_I know. We need to talk._

_Yeah, we do._

* * *

“Hello.” Cas glanced at his face before looking down at the floor. He had two heavy-looking bags slung over his shoulders.

“I got your favorite Indian food. Figured I shouldn’t poison you with my cooking.” Dean showed him the table behind him, already set with takeout. “Let me help you,” Dean offered, reaching for the bags. Cas let him take one which Dean figured was a good sign, even though Cas still wouldn’t look at him. They stowed Cas's bags in his room before returning to the kitchen table for dinner.

Cas's eyes swept over the candles lit on the table, but he didn’t say anything. He sat down opposite Dean and surveyed the food.

“Thanks for this.”

“So,” Dean had never been so nervous in his whole life, “Um. I moved some of my stuff to storage.”

Cas looked up at him sharply, hurt evident in his eyes.

“Why?” he sounded strained.

“Just from my room. Made some space.” Dean picked up his fork and then set it down. He crossed his hands in front of him. Cas was watching him so closely, so intensely. “In case you wanted to move in there with me,” Dean finally choked out. The words were faster than he was hoping for, but he'd at least said them.

Cas's face went completely blank. His mouth dropped open.

“Uh,” Dean started again, “your stuff’s still in your room. I didn’t touch it. And I can get my stuff out of storage if you don’t—“

“I do,” Cas interrupted him quickly. Dean let a shaky, nervous breath go.

“You do?”

Cas nodded quickly, though he was still looking at him in that same overly intense way.

“Oh, thank god,” Dean sighed again, his whole body going limp.

“I-” Cas started and then stopped. “I think I’m done eating.”

“But it’s your favorite,” Dean complained lightly. “I got it special for you.”

“Can I go look around in there?” Cas asked. “See what kind of space you made?”

Dean nodded after a moment. He was smiling and he couldn’t help it. He suddenly felt like he was made out of helium.

 

* * *

  

Cas didn’t want to look around and Dean should have known better. The second they walked into his room, Cas pushed him back on the bed and climbed on top of him. He was smiling too as he kissed Dean’s mouth and yanked his shirt up and over his head.

“Cas –- there’s a bookshelf over there, did you see?” Dean mumbled, trying to keep up with Cas's furious undressing speed.

“Yes.”

“It’s for all your weird books.”

“Thank you.” Cas kissed down his now-naked chest, stopping to bite his nipples and swirl his tongue around the raised peaks. Dean groaned and threw his head back.

“And I put half of my suits in a dresser in the bathroom so there's space for your clothes in the closet.”

“That was very thoughtful of you.”

Dean’s pants were up and off of his legs in two seconds flat. Thankfully, he’d worn his best boxers (though he hadn’t necessarily expected _this_ ). When the heck did Cas get so toned? He knew Cas ran most mornings, but damn. He was _hot_.

“Cas?” Dean couldn’t help staring.

“Yes, Dean?” Cas asked, shucking his own jeans.

“Is my prius gay?”

“I helped you pick it out, remember?”

“Yes, but is it gay?” Dean felt his mouth go dry as Cas stripped his boxers off at much the same speed. He looked... awesome. Somehow both big and perfectly proportional.

“It’s a car,” Cas breathed heavily, climbing back on top of him. His cock lay heavy against Dean’s stomach and Dean shivered at the sensation. He liked how Cas spread his legs around his body so easily. “You think it screws the other boy cars in the parking lot at night?”

“God, I hope so,” Dean breathed, mesmerized by the sight of Cas's cock against his skin. Cas laughed at that, his hands skimming over Dean’s chest before he leaned down to place a luxurious, passionate kiss on his lips. Dean tugged his own boxers down eagerly.

“Can I fuck you?” Cas asked, his voice heavy and deep and so sexy. He kissed him again, skimming his lips along his neck until Dean cried out.

“Hell yes,” Dean agreed hastily, still busy taking in naked Cas sitting on his hips. “Condoms and lube in the first drawer in that night table. I restocked them while you were gone.”

Cas grinned at him.

“That was also quite thoughtful, Dean.”

Cas made use of a generous amount of lube, licking Dean open before pressing his slicked fingers in. Dean gasped at the different sensations, not sure how he felt about it. But then Cas started stroking his cock, and pushing against something inside of him, and then his tongue was against Dean’s balls and Dean forgot how to form coherent thoughts.

Cas didn’t tell him when he slipped inside, but Dean heard him unwrap the condom and felt how thick and big and solid he was compared to his tongue and fingers. Then he was kissing Dean again and hauling one of his legs up onto his shoulder.

Dean gasped and blinked as Cas started to thrust slowly into him. Cas kissed the side of his face, his cheek, and nosed along his ear.

“Oh god…” Dean groaned. “Didn’t know that would feel so good.”

“Mmmm,” Cas mumbled, upping his pace. “I imagined what this would be like so many times.”

Dean cried out as Cas hit him with just the right angle.

“You’re amazing.” Cas kissed him fiercely. Dean squeezed his eyes shut, unable to focus on anything but the sensation of Cas pounding into him.

“God, Cas,” Dean moaned again. Cas's back was strong, sensually moving under his hands as they drifted lower into a familiar position. He’d had Cas like this on Michael’s desk, just the reverse. “Cas…”

Cas slowed his hips into a low, dirty roll. He seemed to be trying to touch every part of Dean. Dean hooked his legs around Cas's hips and pulled him in as deep as he could. Cas gasped and dropped his head to Dean’s shoulder. They both paused, taking in the sensation of being completely connected. Dean stroked a hand through Cas's surprisingly fine, soft hair and held him close.

“I’m so in love with you,” Cas whispered against his neck.

Dean swallowed hard. Well, that settled that debate, even more than the cock in his ass. Cas didn’t give him much time to respond before he started to thrust into him, more slowly this time, a rolling, steady rhythm that had Dean panting and canting his ass up to give Cas the best angle.

Cas was a hot mess when he pulled Dean up on his lap, effectively reversing their position. His hair stuck up in every direction and his lips were swollen and plump from kissing every part of Dean he could find.

“So…” Dean panted, quirking a smug grin. “Is this cowboy, then?”

“Certainly isn’t cowgirl.” Cas grinned back.

“I gotta learn all this new gay lingo.” Dean slowly started to move his hips, working himself along Cas's dick. "Always had a thing for cowboys, anyway."

“Dean,” Cas breathed, his hooded, deep blue eyes watching him as intense as they ever were. “You’re doing so well.”

Dean pressed against Cas's chest and rolled his hips again. Cas grabbed both his cheeks and helped him, building Dean’s rhythm with little pushes of his own hips.

Cas tilted his head back, the muscles along his neck straining. “Do you think you can come?”

“Oh yeah,” Dean assured him breathlessly. Cas was already working Dean's cock to the point of no return while Dean rode him. “No problem there.”

“Good. Do it.”

Dean leaned forward and pushed two fingers into Cas's mouth. Cas watched him gleefully, sucking the fingers in deeper and running his tongue along the sensitive skin. Electricity skittered up Dean’s arm from Cas's expert tongue work. Dean squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on the feel of Cas's hands along his shaft, his dick pressing deep into him.

It was pretty damn easy to find release. Dean collapsed against his chest, and consequently the sticky mess he’d made. Cas followed after him soon after. He shuddered and tensed up under him as a groan spilled from his mouth.

They lay panting against each other, all sweat and warmth and comfort. Dean groaned as Cas pulled out, so Cas replaced his dick with his fingers.

“You’re so loose,” Cas noted appreciatively as he fingered him slowly. “I love that.”

Dean flushed and closed his eyes.

“Cas?”

“Yeah?”

“Uh, I feel the same. About you.”

“Oh, you love me?” Dean could hear him grin.

“Yeah… that.”

 

* * *

 

Cas was moving his things into the closet when he found Dean’s bag.

Cas slowly removed a long string of anal beads from the black leather bag. He turned a quizzical eye to Dean, who had frozen from where he was reading on the bed.

“Oh yeah. That’s what Bela found.”

“So these are… for you.” Cas removed an extra large dildo, poking the gelatin head. It had a suction at the end to attach to the shower tiles.

“Yeah.” Dean swallowed thickly. "I haven't used that one yet."

“ _Just_ for you,” Cas said with delight as he pulled an anal vibrator out and looked closely at it. His eyes practically bugged out of his head when he finally retrieved the old-school gay porno from the bottom. “You didn’t use them with anyone else.”

“Yeah,” Dean said faintly.

He pulled a pair of pink, satiny panties out last.

“You want to change that?”

"Oh, hell yeah."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unrelated heads up: my account of two years on tumblr was deleted while I was deleting sideblogs, which is apparently a new glitch in the system. Don't delete sideblogs right now. 
> 
> My new one is snuggywolfgang for anyone interested in following! I have to build up from ground zero now :(.


	6. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do try to be a benevolent author when I'm not drowning my readers in angst. As requested, here's a little bit of background story and first date thrown together. Thank you so much for reading! I loved writing this story.

Dean somehow never pictured himself on a date with Cas. In his weakest moments of full-on denial, he pictured himself _dating_ Cas and told himself it was mere straight curiosity (whatever, it made sense at the time), but never on actual date like the one he was currently on.

Cas had made them a picnic and dragged Dean away from his yoga regimen and off to a park to sit on a blanket in the sun with other couples. To add insult to an admittedly delicious injury, he’d made some buttery, carb-heavy thing that Dean could not stop eating.

“I can actually feel myself gaining weight right now,” Dean complained as he shoved another helping into his mouth.

“You’re twenty five and in the best shape of your life. Shut up and eat your food,” Cas responded mildly.

“It’s so good,” Dean moaned.

Cas smiled at him. It was surreal. They were on a real, no joke _date._

The park seemed sort of chilly by Seattle standards, but by Kansas’s standards it was heavenly out for mid-January. Dean only needed a light jacket, and beside that the sun was out and it was nearly in the sixties.

“See? If you’d moved to that little cabin in Montana you couldn’t have done a picnic in January. Seattle wins.”

“Seattle already won, Dean, I’m dating you,” Cas responded.

Dean glanced at him. Cas went in for a kiss, one that Dean gladly gave. Dean still couldn’t believe they were _on a date_.

“Hey, so, I have a weird question. It’s been bothering me for a while. When did you… uh… you know.”

“…fall in love with you?” Cas trailed on for him.

“Yeah,” Dean said, vaguely pink. He still wasn’t the best at actually voicing his feelings for Cas, but Cas seemed to make up for that in completed sentences just fine.

Cas leaned back to the look at the sky, his face all scrunched. He thought for a moment before answering.

“When I first met you, I thought you were attractive. But that’s not love.”

“Well,” Dean smirked, “obviously.”

Cas rolled his eyes.

“There was one moment that stands out. At Stanford I could tell how hard you tried to fit in with the other business majors and act classy. You never cussed around them, wore nice clothes, kept up with the new trends.” Dean felt suddenly self-conscious that Cas so easily read an insecurity he tried desperately to hide. “But there was one moment when your Kansas roots popped up in the best way. You remember that asshole Uriel who was working with you on a finance project one night in the commons? He said something about 'faggots' and you chimed right up with, 'It’s the 21st fucking century, don’t pull that shit.' It was the first time I’d heard you curse around your classmates, and I’d known you for two years. I knew you said it because I was right there and you wanted to defend me. I think that was the start of it.”

Dean looked down at his hands, more embarrassed by Cas's earnestness than he’d banked on when he asked.

“I grew up in my dad’s autoshop. Me and Sammy started helping out as soon as we could because it was struggling. Realizing we couldn’t make much of a difference just helping with cars, we started working on business plans and marketing campaigns for him at age 12 and 8 to grow his clientele. His business took off with our ideas and became a major regional success, and Sammy and I got branded protégés. Stanford somehow took notice. When I got there, though, I felt like everyone else was way better than me, and that I got in on a fluke. I might have overcompensated a bit.”

“Dean, you’re brilliant,” Cas reassured him, a soft hand covering his on the blanket between them. “I know that, and Sandover knows that. That’s why they give you so much responsibility at such a young age.”

“Thanks, Cas.” His face was pink again, he could feel it.

“What about you, Winchester?” Cas had that look on his face like he was going to knowingly push one of Dean’s buttons, but Dean didn’t know which one. “When did you fall in love with me?”

Shit. The feelings button.

The pink turned to red on his cheeks.

“Uh,” Dean said, flustered. “Hm. You know. You have such a way with words, Cas, I don’t think I can follow that.”

“Don’t give me that, salesman extraordinaire,” Cas growled.

Dean breathed out slowly.

“Ok. First point of attraction? Well, denial was a long road to walk, Cas, I can’t really say what’s what there. Um… for the… uh… l-love part, I guess that was more recently. You made this great quiche one night.”

“Dean,” Cas said warningly.

“Alright. Um. Ever since you moved in, I felt different about you. I didn’t know what it was, exactly. I wanted to hang out with you every second. I didn’t like any of my new friends in Seattle half as much as I liked you. I don’t think it was one point in time so much as a slow growth that I didn’t know what to do with. I didn’t even start to consider I could like guys until a few months ago when I went on a shopping binge on Amazon and bought, like, a shitton of gay porn.”

Cas choked on a piece of buttery goodness.

“You’re ending it on ‘shitton of gay porn’? I demand a different ending to my falling in love story.”

Dean couldn’t help grinning at that.

“Ok, ok, there was one night… I never told you about, and that I’m sure you don’t remember. Balthazar and Gabriel had gotten you completely drunk and literally dropped you off on me at the apartment door because you could barely walk. It was, like, twelve at night. Bela was staying over, but you didn’t know about that. She was in the bathroom when they came to the door. You, uh, kissed me. Really kissed me. Groping and everything. I didn’t… exactly push you off. Bela came out of the bathroom and saw the whole thing. She was crazy jealous over it, but when she surprised me and you fell to the ground because you couldn’t keep yourself up, she had to admit you wouldn’t have done it if you were sober. That night was a big part of why I asked you to do the fake boyfriends thing”

“You knew it would make Bela jealous?” Cas frowned lightly.

“I couldn’t… stop thinking about it. I wanted another chance to kiss you,” Dean admitted.

“I wanted another chance to kiss you.” Cas's eyes were sort of glazed and Dean was a little worried that extra shininess was tears, but Cas kept it together if it was. “I’ll accept that ending.”


End file.
